Pricey nostalgia
The fabulous soundtrack to "The Wonder Years" has kept the popular show off video.
By Scott Lieber
Denver Post Staff Writer

It's fair to say that no defunct television show commands the kind of craving for DVDs like "The Wonder Years."

Among shows that have yet to release full seasons, "The Wonder Years" - a nostalgic coming-of-age series set in suburbia circa 1970 - is one of the most sought-after. The website TVshowsonDVD.com lists the 10 most requested DVDs still unreleased by studios, and "The Wonder Years" sits at No. 2, right behind "Beverly Hills 90210."

Amazon.com offers the only two "Wonder Years" DVDs, and the cheapest one - "The Christmas Wonder Years: The Holiday Episodes" - costs $74.99. For the more affluent, a used 70-minute DVD of "The Best of The Wonder Years" starts at $97.84 and runs up to $186.99 for a new one.

But full seasons of the show remain locked up, as costly music licensing has postponed their release.

"We're not that far along," said Jyoti Sarda from 20th Century Fox Marketing, of releasing full seasons of the show. "We know it's something we'd like to put out. We know that people want it out. Consumers are waiting. Fans are waiting. We talk about needing to tackle it, but we haven't gotten to a place where it's being actively worked on."

"It's not imminent," said Steve Feldstein, senior vice president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, "in that it's not going to be out in the next couple of months."

"The Wonder Years" aired on ABC from 1988-93. Set in the late 1960s and early 70s, it followed the adventures of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) as he negotiated adolescence.

Actor Daniel Stern provided the voice- over narration of the adult Kevin, and it was this filtering of junior-high angst through an adult's memories that resonated with viewers. People can identify with Kevin's experiences growing up, right down to schoolkid crushes, bullying siblings, parental expectations and the general trials of teendom.

The period music on "The Wonder Years" is critical to the show's emotional resonance, serving as an aural touchstone to viewers of a certain age. In one of the series' most memorable scenes, Kevin climbs a tree to peer into on-and-off girlfriend Winnie's window after she's hurt in an accident. The background music: "We've Got Tonight," by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

Sarda hopes to begin releasing the DVDs within two years. No matter when they come out, the original music most likely won't be on them.

"I think that's the only way really we're going to see it," says Gord Lacey, creator of the Web site TVshowsonDVD.com. "I don't have a list of the songs used in the show, but something tells me they're not going to be able to release a completely intact series."

The music-licensing hurdle is substantial. "The Wonder Years" borrowed more than 300 pieces of music for its 115 episodes. Even more daunting is the fact that the music is from what has emerged as a resurgent, nostalgic era.

"I'd love to put it out on DVD, so other people can enjoy it," Sarda said. "So we just have to work through these issues. It's not that simple, because music is an integral part of that show. So it's not like you can just go in and replace it all."

Rights to broadcast on TV differ from rights to distribute for home entertainment. Most shows now negotiate home-entertainment rights prior to production. Shows produced in the pre-digital days - like "The Wonder Years" - never negotiated those rights.

The only two DVDs of "The Wonder Years" out now - "The Holiday Episodes" and "The Best of The Wonder Years" - both used replacement music.

"You go in and see which songs are expensive that are not as essential," Sarda says. "And that process of going through each episode and doing that analysis is a more complicated process than putting out a TV show that doesn't have these issues."

i'm a huge wonder years fan but i've got to admit i can't point to to any scene in which i really remember the music. i remember the scenes but what was playing seemed irrelevent to what was happening. the little acoustic parts sprinkled here and there made the scenes work in my opinion in most cases. you would think that some of these one hit wonders and some the 60's bands that most people don't care about would liscenese the music if not just for the money but a little publicity as well. i hope they come out sooner rather then later that's for sure.

I think maybe for people who grew up around that time, the music was probably more important to the show than for us.

I'm glad it's coming to DVD, though. I like The Wonder Years, but I never really identified with it the way I did with Freaks & Geeks. Kevin Arnold's life was nothing like mine at all.

While we're on the topic of selling songs, I was listening to the director's commentary on Dazed & Confused, and I was shocked to learn that Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" cost them almost $100,000 to put in the film. I didn't think it cost that much. It's funny, the movie Richard Linklater made before Dazed, Slacker, cost $26,000 altogether to make. So, within the first five seconds of Dazed, he had already quadrupled his budget.

that's areosmith for ya. one thing i don't get about these dvd's if they already know they won't get the liscenses for the music then why the wait? just release them. it's like saying we are waiting for the cake to get here but by the way there is no cake so just shut up and wait.

Yeah, I don't get that either. Maybe they're just hoping some of the music will become irrelevant enough that it'll be cheap to get the rights for the music.

Another great show that's stuck in music-rights purgatory is The State. It was on MTV back in the day (94-96, I believe), and back then MTV used to fill all of their shows with whatever music was popular at the time, so The State is just crammed full of "popular" music of the time (Spin Doctors, SWV), and thus they're having a lot of trouble getting it released. Hopefully, once the Reno 911 movie comes out, it'll stir up some more interest in The State (more than half the cast of Reno was in The State, too).

Useful Searches

About USMessageBoard.com

USMessageBoard.com was founded in 2003 with the intent of allowing all voices to be heard. With a wildly diverse community from all sides of the political spectrum, USMessageBoard.com continues to build on that tradition. We welcome everyone despite political and/or religious beliefs, and we continue to encourage the right to free speech.

Come on in and join the discussion. Thank you for stopping by USMessageBoard.com!